— reinstating cakespeditions with my dad (rememberthose?), my partner-in-crime for searching out and glorying in the magical treats that Canberra has to offer (full review of the above to come). Realising how lucky and grateful I am to have these one-on-one moments with my father.

— “If she is a writer of colour, compare her skin to food: chocolate, caramel, coffee, raisins, tater tots, brown bread. If she is white don’t worry about it; your readers know what that looks like.”

— walking around Lake Burley Griffin with friends, sometimes getting horribly sunburned, sometimes losing the battle to finish the ice cream before it melts onto our fingers, sometimes finding flocks of black swans but staying many many metres away because they can be aggressive little buggers when they want to be.

— finally reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

— wishing that the story of the elves and the shoemaker was instead the story of the elves and the me-who-wants-this-cake-waiting-freshly-baked-in-the-kitchen-in-the-morning-please-and-thank-you.

— this song, which my brother played for me during our road trip to Lake Eyre (the one where it took us three days to get to Lake Eyre and then one day to drive the 1,500km back because we are insane and stopped for only half an hour for lunch between leaving Maree at 8am and getting to Melbourne at 1am). My brother described it as one of his favourite break-up songs, and I will never forget, I will never forget, I will never forget the stars blazing against the dark black night in the empty yet seething outback as I pressed my face against the window and, over the course of two minutes and forty-six seconds, felt my hands tremble and the breath catch in my throat.

— actually, I need to re-watch the magician to recover. Excuse me a moment.

— the dizzying, breathtaking blurring of art and reality at In The Flesh at the National Portrait Gallery. (If you’re in Canberra and haven’t yet been, it closes early March. Go now.) A part of me still can’t believe these babies weren’t real; you could see the intricacies of faint veins under their skin and almost feel their breath. Incredible.

— the joy and strength of shared secrets, held deep within hearts and minds.

I want a trip to Lake Eyre with that song on repeat! But I never let an ice cream melt before I eat it. I even help sylvia to neaten her ice creams so they don’t melt all over her. And I was happy to hear those babies aren’t real because I kept looking at the picture thinking how did they get them to stay still in the perfect position long enough to take a photo! Then it made sense when you said they weren’t real.

What matters? Having you back in Canberra.
Seeing your great photos again – loved the swans on the lake.
Hearing that a great restaurant is still great.
Having a wonderful family.
Yearly activities starting up again now it is February.
Being told by a doctor how healthy I am (‘for your age’ implied!!).
Laughter. And love.

It has taken a ridiculously long time since ‘meeting’ you on Instagram to get over here and what a delightful post to arrive at.
One on one time with my dad is so precious to me too. He definitely doesn’t do cake so when I am visiting (Brisbane) I suggest we take the dog for a walk every afternoon. It is the only time we really talk.

Actually, your timing is perfect, because I only started blogging again last week after almost a year’s break. I’m concerned about your dad’s disinterest in cake, but clearly he’s a dog person, so that sets my heart at ease. 😉

for me this week, so many of the same things- coffee, poached eggs and toast, eating all the desserts because you only live once, a job that makes me happy, friends and a boyfriend (!) that make me feel incredibly lucky and even though it’s freezing, I relish getting cozy under my blankets at night with a mug of tea 🙂

Do you have iMessage or something miss Hannah? I need a way to stay in more constant contact with youuuu

I love this post idea, Hannah. Its cool, kinda a good way to acknowledge all the things you are grateful for. 🙂
What matters to me this week? Multicultural shenannagans with bestest friends. Sending very compromising text messages to the wrong person that meant we laughed till we cried. Coffee. Finding a meaning and purpose for my blog. Completing day 16 of 30 yoga challenge and not being dead. Gifting complete strangers with cheesy valentines cards. Reading all the things that matter to you. Have a brilliant week lady. 🙂

This is an incredibly delightful list. And of so many things that indicate you’ve got a magical year ahead of you! (Are you doing one of the youtube 30-day yoga challenges? I’ve done the ones by Erin Motz and Yoga with Adriene. Love.)

Oh I do hope that 2015 is a magical year. 🙂
I am doing a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge in Kingston. Will have to check out the YouTube version, that sounds delightful and a more relaxing way to do the challenge. Hope you are having a wicked week so far. 🙂

I do love the portrait gallery. I thought those babies were a photo! That road trip is impressive. I’ve never driven 1500kms in one sitting but maybe that’s because I always seem to have young kids with weak bladders in the back seat xx

Oh, it was completely idiotic of us. We suddenly just couldn’t bear another night of paying $200 for a terrible hotel room and $30 for food we didn’t really like when Melbourne gigs and brunches and home were calling 😉

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About

Hannah. Writer, editor, firm believer in socks, gin, laughter, buttered toast, cheesecake, and semicolons. Currently back in Canberra after two years living in Canada; heart tingling to see what happens next.